Abstract: | Ophthalmology in China has developed in three successive phases. From the arrival of Dr. Peter Parker in Canton one hundred years agov.ntil the last two dccades, cmphasis was laid on the curative phase ofophthalmology. Within the last two decades, earlier efforts in oph-thalmic research have been coorclinated and some notable researchwork on ophthalmic probIems has been done. Although various pro-bIems in ophthalmology have been considered from the public healthviewpoint, it is only recently that the preventive phase of oph-thahnology has attracted the attention that it merits. '' The pro-gressive development of ophthalmology in China depends on a pro-gram in which the curative, the research and the public health phasesof ophthalmology are maintained in proper oalance. It is therefore anopportune time to draw attention to their interdependence and to pointout the need for their coordinated development. |